This year marks the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking Weezer masterpiece Pinkerton, and Vinyl Me, Please is giving the album the deluxe vinyl treatment in an exclusive “Record of the Month” edition.

The new reissue is pressed on translucent blue vinyl with black marbling and comes in a gatefold sleeve with pop-out art, a custom lyric sheet, a 12”×12” original print by artist Fuco Ueda and, of course, a Pinkerton-inspired recipe for a sake cocktail.

Vinyl Me, Please

When it was first released on September 24, 1996, Pinkerton surprised fans and critics alike, many of whom were likely expecting more of the sunny guitar-pop that made the Weezer's 1994 debut 'Blue Album' such a breakout success. Instead, Weezer mastermind Rivers Cuomo answered with Pinkerton – a dark, tortured audio confession loosely based on Madame Butterfly and focused on his growing feelings of isolation, disillusionment and romantic frustration.

After the initial backlash, Cuomo stated he regretted the record—particularly how painfully honest his lyrics were. In 2001, he told Entertainment Weekly, “It’s a hideous record... It was such a hugely painful mistake that happened in front of hundreds of thousands of people and continues to happen on a grander and grander scale and just won't go away. It’s like getting really drunk at a party and spilling your guts in front of everyone and feeling incredibly great and cathartic about it, and then waking up the next morning and realizing what a complete fool you made of yourself.”